The Crow: Return of Eric, Vengance of Shelly
by Tainted With Pain
Summary: It's 22 years after Eric awakens from the dead, and he's reawakened again, and his past caught up to a young woman named Shelly Webster. Now he has to help this young Shelly, also ressurected by the Crow, get rid of the killers who killed her family. Not
1. Eric reawakens, Visit to an old friend, ...

The Crow: Return of Eric, Vengeance of Shelly  
  
By: Tainted With Pain  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Crow, wish I did, sorry, though, I don't.  
  
Author's Note: This takes place 22 years after the movie.  
  
Eric woke up and pushed free of his grave. Not again. Not this shit again. He wanted rest, he wanted to fucking rest! He didn't want to be back walking among the living of Earth. He used a hand to brush the muddy black hair out of his face and looked up.  
  
"Good evening, Mr. Draven." A little girl, maybe six, said. She had curly, soft red hair, and was dressed in a childish plaid jumper, with shiny black shoes, and she held a white rose in her left hand.  
  
"Where is your mommy, little girl?" Eric asked. The little girl giggled and ran off between headstones. In the distance he heard the little girl calling out. 'I found him, mommy, I found him!' Eric stood up and began walking towards the voice of the little girl.  
  
"Good evening, Mr. Draven." An older, female voice said from behind him. He turned around slowly and came to face a teenager, maybe seventeen, with deep red hair and tired and empty blue eyes. Her attire was a pair of black pants and combat boots with a black tank top and red over shirt.  
  
"Where's the little girl?" Eric asked.  
  
"My little sister, rejoined my mother most likely." The young woman looked towards the sky.  
  
"Wait, you mean she was dead?" Eric asked.  
  
"Why so surprised? Aren't you dead, too?" The woman asked, he nodded, then noticed something, something remotely familiar about her.  
  
"S…Sarah?" He asked, the girl looked towards the ground.  
  
"Mother was always speaking fondly of you, Mr. Draven, right up till one of the men who had followed Top Dollar and didn't like how you'd done his boss in got with my mom and eighteen years later put mama, little sister, and I in the grave…" The woman said.  
  
"Sarah's your mother? She died because I killed Top Dollar?" Eric asked, suddenly the sadness gripping his heart ripped it to shreds.  
  
"The world changed a lot in the past twenty-two years, Mr. Draven. People like Top Dollar should have died long, long ago. But such is not the case…We…You and I, we were the closest people to my mother…I got brought back to avenge what was done to my mama…What was done to my little sister…And what was done to myself…" The girl looked up at him, Eric could see Sarah's adult face through the eyes, "I can't do it alone…Mister…That's why the Crow brought you back, too…I can't get rid of T.D. and the rest of those…Those…Sickos…On my own…"  
  
"I'll help you." Eric said, he wanted to rest a hand on the child's shoulder, but he was afraid of what he'd see, so afraid of what he'd see. "Call me Eric…What's your name?" He asked.  
  
"Shelly." The girl said quietly. "We both have things we need to do before we go after them, Uncle Albrecht probably would like to see you…" She said quietly. Eric said nothing, just looked to the sky for a second, when he looked back she was gone.  
  
Albrecht hadn't been hard to find, he still lived in the same place. "Freeze!" Eric said from behind when he dropped in the window. The much older cop spun around and groaned.  
  
"I hate when you do that…What you doing here now?" He asked.  
  
"Sarah." Eric said. Albrecht shook his head.  
  
"Sarah died, my friend, her and both her beautiful girls were killed last year." He said.  
  
"What happened?" Eric asked, interested in what Shelly hadn't told him.  
  
"I guess it was about four years after you came back, Sarah got into some bad shit, she got pregnant, and had a girl. She named her Shelly, in memory of your girlfriend. I tell you, there was no child more deserving of the name. Shelly's father was one to be desired, though. For a while Shelly went without a last name, before her father, Dante, proposed to Sarah. His last name was Webster, turned out in the long run he was your Shelly's cousin, didn't seem to care much about what had happened to Shelly, though. He was more worried 'bout what happened to Top Dollar. He also began taking it out on Shelly and Sarah, knowing that Sarah knew you." Albrecht winced at the memory, "Some of the pain he put those two through…Shelly grew up, she's was beautiful, she was talented, she was going to be something grand, not she could have been, she was going to, we all knew it, she was going to over come whatever her daddy threw at her. At least, we all thought she would. Shelly started losing her will, though. Then, about six years ago, her little sister, Leah, was born. It was a rebirth for Shelly, not for Sarah. And as soon as Leah hit six months life got worse. Then, about a year ago, four months before they died, Shelly's boyfriend was killed by a couple friend's of her father's. Shelly never really recovered, and I didn't know where exactly they lived, or I would have taken those girls out of that environment." Albrecht stopped, and sat down.  
  
"What else happened?" Eric asked.  
  
"Shelly visited me, every day, one day the visits just stopped. Three days went by, I was out on patrol one night, and I got a call over my radio to go to Fourth and Lux, so I did. To check out a possible murder scene. I got there, and I went to the apartment, kicked the door open, and before I even got out of the entryway I knew, I knew it was where Sarah and her family lived…I knew because I saw Shelly's skateboard, it was a one of a kind, she designed it, paint wise, herself, and I can only remember how numb I felt as I stepped into the living room. Leah, the little girl, she was curled up on the couch like she was sleepin,' I walked over to her, she was cold as ice, she was dead, came back later to find out they over dosed her on morphine, on the first night of the three that I hadn't heard from Shelly. I went into the kitchen, it stunk so bad from the blood…Sarah had been shot five times in the chest and head while she was getting a glass of soda, on the first night. And I heard a half unconscious whimper from down the hallway. I was so scared to go back there, so afraid to see what kind of condition I'd fine Shelly in." Albrecht had to stop, to catch up to it all.  
  
"They did the same thing to her that they did to my Shelly, didn't they?" Eric asked.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, 'cept Shelly, she took 72 hours of rape, and beating, and held on for an additional 96 hours." Albrecht looked down, "They said she was raped, at least fifty times, by five different men…And, I stayed right by her side, right by her side, and just prayed, prayed for her to pull through it, and one of her friends from school, her only friend from school, came in, and walked over to the bed, and she took Shelly's hand and said, 'It's okay to let go, now, Shelly. You been here more than long enough, and got more than you share of pain, you can let go now, sweet heart. We all love you, we understand if you want to rest now, go ahead, Shelly, and let yourself rest now.' And, as soon as she said that, Shelly just let go, she just went away." Albrecht said.  
  
"You've done more than enough for the people I care about…Thank you…" Eric said. Albrecht turned his back.  
  
"Your…" He turned back to the now empty room, "Welcome…I hate when he does that…" 


	2. Funboy dies...Secrets of Shelly

Dante Webster crossed his arms over his chest as he looked out the window.  
  
"It's been a year, man, aint no one going to find you, or do anything to you for it." One of the guys said.  
  
"You're just like your low life uncle, even had to take the same name, didn't you, Skank?" Dante replied.  
  
"Hey, watch it, T.D. He's not the only name thief in this room." A young black guy said.  
  
"True, so true Tin-tin. We all stole a name, from someone." Dante said, it was true, they had either looked up to or were related to men that were killed twenty-two years earlier, so they'd taken the names. T-Bird, Tin- tin, Skank, Funboy, Top Dollar…So Dante got called T.D. more than he did Top Dollar. That still didn't deny it.  
  
"You remember how that pretty girl screamed?" Funboy cackled.  
  
"Who could forget? She screamed so loud, she pleaded and begged, she cried and struggled. And for seventy-two hours we all had the times of our lives. Even T.D. over there." Skank said.  
  
"I don't see how T.D. did it, rape is rape, but your own child? There's just something a little mental about that." T-Bird grinned.  
  
"Well, you didn't have these objections last year." T.D. said.  
  
"No, they not objections, mental is good, mental is real good." T-Bird laughed.  
  
"She pleaded so much. 'Daddy, daddy stop, please.'" Funboy mocked, laughing hard.  
  
"I don't think either Shelly Webster ever got much resting in peace!" Skank proclaimed, they all bowled over laughing.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"I talked to Albrecht, Shelly Webster." Eric said, as he stepped up behind her.  
  
"I see he must have told you the whole story." She said, flatly, no emotion even tingling her voice. She was sitting on a fire escape, he was standing behind her. The window of the apartment was dark, it was broken out.  
  
"Indeed…" Eric said. "Shelly…I'm sorry…" He said.  
  
"Don't be, it was a year ago…Long ago…" Shelly said, standing up. Eric could tell that she was trying to push back emotion.  
  
"Is this the apartment?" He asked.  
  
"Yes…" She said quietly.  
  
"Want me to go in first?" He looked at her.  
  
"No, no, I need to go in, alone, I need to do this, on my own…Two months I've been awake, this will be my first time back in…" Shelly said quietly.  
  
"Understood." Eric said and watched Shelly step in the window.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Funboy pranced around outside the liquor store with a full bottle of vodka when he heard something behind him.  
  
"Who 'da fuck there?" He asked, turning around. He watched as a man with shoulder length wavy black hair stepped into the light. He wore a black trench coat, with his face painted up white. Funboy had heard about this guy, same mother fucker who killed the first guy to go by his name.  
  
"Hello, Funboy." The guy slapped his bottle from his hand, and it shattered on the ground.  
  
"Get away from me! You dead mother fucka'! Get away from me!" Funboy said, stumbling back.  
  
"That's right, I'm a dead mother fucker. And just like the first Fun Boy was when he laid hands on my Shelly, you are too, for laying hands on the other Shelly." Eric said and jumped forward, Funboy didn't have the time to react. Eric grabbed his head and moved his hands, rolling the head heard between them until he heard the neck bone snap. Standing over the lifeless body Eric could only shake his head. "I don't know what's worse…Taking a woman, a beautiful, sweet, perfectly innocent woman created by God, and destroying her for hours, and leaving her in pain, killing her in the long run…Or taking a child, a beautiful, innocent, selfless child, and destroying her for days, and leaving her in the pain that kills her in the long run…" He said as he turned to walk away.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The memories flooded into Shelly's eyes, and she cried out, collapsing onto her bed as images flashed before her.  
  
---She had been laying on her bed when the shots rung out. Shelly sprung to her feet and ran for the doorway, only for one of her father's friends to step into the room and push her back onto the bed.  
  
"MAMA!" Shelly screamed as she tried to get up, only to be pushed down again, this time the man climbed on top of her. "Please get off me, please, please leave me alone!" Shelly pleaded, tears beginning to curl at the corners of her eyes, she'd been in this position before, she knew what was coming, God she knew what was coming.---  
  
Eric had returned to the fire escape when he heard Shelly screaming inside. Damn the memories, they always came back so hard, still, he was curious. Slowly he moved to the window and looked in, Shelly was laying on her back on the bed, struggling with something unseen, so evil from her memory. It was then that he noticed the ring on Shelly's finger, on her right ring finger. Sarah must have passed the ring down to her daughter. He forced a small smile that quickly faded into concern as Shelly thumped off the bed.  
  
--- "Little bitch!" Funboy hissed as he climbed off Shelly and swung hard, knocking her to the floor. He moved and pulled her back onto the bed by her hair to finish what he started.---  
  
After an hour Eric couldn't watch this anymore, he slid into the window and walked over to where Shelly Laid on the bed and grabbed her shoulders, trying to shake her from the memories. Apparently it somehow worked, the girl's eyes flew open, wide, and scared, and she instantly clung to the first thing that could offer any sort of protection, Eric's chest.  
  
"Shelly, Shelly, it's okay, they're just memories, they can't hurt you anymore, it's okay, it's okay, I'm here." Eric said, he looked up to see the Crow sitting on the window sill.  
  
"Protect her and you can stay with her forever, her and your Shelly, they are one." The Crow said, only Eric could hear it, he looked down at the head of red hair pressed against his chest. Now, was that really possible? Was the Shelly he held right now and his Shelly the same soul.  
  
"Shelly, let me see your eyes." Eric said. Shelly slowly, reluctantly, looked up at him. He looked down into her eyes, oh, Sarah was there, being Sarah's daughter let him see Sarah through Shelly's eyes, but there was something else there, Eric nodded to himself. The Crow wasn't lying, Shelly was his Shelly. Eric leaned down, and kissed her forehead, leaving a small black print on her forehead.  
  
"What was it, Eric?" Shelly asked softly.  
  
"You'll find out in time, you'll find out in time." Eric said, and softly brushed some of her hair away.  
  
"I don't understand." Shelly said.  
  
"You will, you will." Eric reassured her and hugged her. "Now, let's go find you some other clothing." He said. She nodded slightly climbing out of his arms, and off the bed. 


	3. Tin-tin bites the dust, Shelly's admissi...

Tin-tin jerked his head up when he heard steps coming down the hall.  
  
"WHO'S THERE?" He yelled, no answer.  
  
"The question should be whispered, to the empty hall, and just to let you know, you chose the wrong place to call, and another thing that you should know, you made a mistake before, you shouldn't have touched me last year, much less left me for dead on my bedroom floor." Shelly said stepping out of the corner, she was in her black combat boots and a pair of leather pants and a black long sleeved shirt.  
  
"Holy fuck…You dead…T.D. and I watched them drop your ass in the ground!" Tin-tin said.  
  
"Yes, I am quite dead, and quite pissed." Shelly said as she walked over and planted her hands palms flat on the desk.  
  
"Well, I'll just kill you ass twice." Tin-tin said drawing a knife and stabbing right through Shelly's hand and splintering the wood of the desk with the blade.  
  
"AHHHHHH!!!!" Shelly yanked her hand from the desk, pulling the blade up with it. She writhed in pain as she pulled the blade from her hand then held it up and watched it heal. "Hm…Imagine that…" She said. Tin-tin went wide eyed and fell out of his chair trying to stand up. Shelly jumped and slammed him against a wall and put the knife to his throat. "One owes respect to the living, to the dead one only owes the truth. Tell me the truth, where's my father and the rest of his drugged out fuck heads?" Shelly asked.  
  
"They restored the old warehouse Top Dollar used…They be there most of the time." He said, somehow hoping that his honesty would buy him his life.  
  
"Thank you…Now, goodbye." Shelly said and turned like she was going to walk away, then she turned back, slashing the knife across his throat, the hook edged blade ripping out his trachea, vocal cords, and esophagus.  
  
"Nice job…" Eric said, stepping out of the shadows.  
  
"Not nice enough, I want to make the next one suffer for my mom and my little sister." Shelly said.  
  
"What about yourself?" Eric asked.  
  
"I hate them for that, but I'm not here to use my own pain, I'm not here to avenge my death, my mom and my little sister are a different story." Shelly said.  
  
"Well, if you won't avenge what happened to you, then I'll do it for you." Eric said. Shelly blinked looking at him.  
  
"Why?" She asked.  
  
"Why what?" Eric replied as they walked out of the building and along the sidewalk.  
  
"Why are you being defensive of me?" Shelly asked.  
  
"I think you'll know in time." Eric said. Shelly wrapped her arms around herself, did he know? Did he know she was the reincarnation of his former fiancee? "Let's go by Albrecht's house." Eric said, interrupting her thoughts.  
  
"Okay…" Shelly said quietly as they turned down a street.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Freeze!" A voice said. Albrecht jumped out of his skin again.  
  
"Eric would you stop th-" His voice died out before he finished as he turned to face them. "Shelly?" He asked quietly. Shelly ran over and hugged him tightly, he hugged back. "The Crow brought her back, too?" Albrecht asked. Eric nodded.  
  
"I guess the Crow figured she might need a little help avenging her family." Eric said.  
  
"I'm so sorry, so sorry that you had to find me like that, last year…" Shelly said, looking up at him.  
  
"I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you and Leah. I knew Dante was bad news, I told your mother that before she had you." Albrecht said.  
  
"She tried to leave, she tried, but, he always threatened her, it was always so much, to much…" Shelly sighed and looked down. Eric walked over and turned her slowly and hugged her.  
  
"It's okay, Shelly." Eric said. Albrecht looked at him. "Sorry, old friend, I wanted to bring her by to say hi, but me and her have three people left to get rid of, maybe then, maybe then we'll come back for another visit." Eric said.  
  
"Okay…Erm…Are you both going to disappear?" He asked. Sarah looked up a little sadly.  
  
"Actually, we were going to use the front door." She said. Eric and Albrecht blinked at the sentence, Eric has used the same sentence two decades earlier. Albrecht and Eric just had to look at each other and shake their heads before Eric and Shelly walked to the front door and exited it quietly. Closing it behind them.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"What would you say if I said attic?" Eric asked, catching Shelly off guard, before she could think she responded.  
  
"Candles and ring."  
  
"What would you say if I said Halloween?" He asked.  
  
"I'd say what are you pestering me for?" Shelly asked, catching herself, and acting annoyed.  
  
"I'd ask again, what would you say if I said Halloween?" He asked again. Shelly sighed and flopped her arms to her sides.  
  
"I'd say wedding day." She said, exasperated.  
  
"What would you say if I said Gabriel?" Eric asked. Shelly's shoulders slumped, he knew, now he was pestering her, well, that was okay, he'd get what he wanted.  
  
"I'd say our cat who got fat and died of old age when I was ten." Shelly said, Eric was a bit taken a back at her suddenly answering so willingly.  
  
"Bathtub?" He asked.  
  
"One of the ways you pissed me off most and then made it up within five seconds of doing it." She replied.  
  
"Christmas?" He asked.  
  
"The time we REALLY surprised each other." She stated. "Satisfied now? You know who I am, who I was."  
  
"Not quite…" He said, turning to her.  
  
"What do you mean, 'Not quite.' Eric Draven?" Shelly asked, Gods how she sounded so much like herself.  
  
"I want to see if you can still kiss." He grinned and grabbed her waist and pulled her into a kiss. When it broke she glared at him.  
  
"Watch your hands on the first date, buddy." She said.  
  
"But…but…" He protested, "This isn't our first date!"  
  
"In this lifetime it is." She pointed out, and grinned. His shoulders slumped.  
  
"You've got me there." He said.  
  
"Oh, but you know I still love you." She said. He nodded and they interlaced their fingers and began walking down the street again, hand in hand. 


	4. Skank and guns, Sleeping Shelly

Eric leaned against the frame of the broken window and watched Shelly sleeping on the broken down bed. So, if he could protect her, they'd get to stay together? That would mean that he'd have to find some way to fix this place up. Well, he could worry about that later, right not he just wanted to watch her. He had her back, even if it wasn't the same body. He had her back. And anyone who had hurt her in any life was going to pay like hell. He'd see to that. The Crow flew in and landed on Eric's arm.  
  
"There's another one waiting for you." It spoke to and only to Eric. He nodded.  
  
It was a short time later that Eric walked up outside a bar. He could hear someone inside, more than one someone, he could hear several, but one was being extremely noisy. Suddenly a ragged looking white man walked out.  
  
"Hello, Skank." Eric said. The guy hardly stopped.  
  
"'Ello, Skank!" He replied drunkenly. Eric shook his head and turned to face that man, who instantly jumped out of the skin.  
  
"Goodbye Skank." Eric said, using his toe to kick a sewer cap off and jumping down into it. He'd get Skank, first though, first he was going to play a game. He made his way through the sewers to where he was going, and came up right outside of where Gideon's pawn used to be, amazingly the burned out building still stood. Eric searched the place, charred, burnt areas that others didn't search, and her finally came up with what he was looking for. 28 old rings.  
  
~~~~~  
  
A bit later in an apartment somewhere, a ring dropped into Skank's mouth, and he almost choked on it, he woke up and looked up at the man standing over him.  
  
"One for sorrow…"  
  
He dropped two more rings, plunking Skank in the face with them.  
  
"Two for joy…"  
  
He dropped three rings into Skank's face.  
  
"Three for a girl…"  
  
Eric dropped four rings onto Skank's head.  
  
"Four for a boy…"  
  
He dropped five more gold wedding rings.  
  
"Five for silver…"  
  
He counted out six and dropped them onto Skank's head.  
  
"Six for gold…"  
  
He tossed the last seven rings hard against Skank's face.  
  
"Seven for a secret that's never been told…"  
  
Skank looked up at him, wide-eyed with fear.  
  
"Skank dead…" Skank said.  
  
"That's right, Skank dead, Skank died the moment he laid hands on Shelly, Skank just didn't know it yet." Eric said then pulled out the next ring he'd give Skank. A good ring in the head. He put the .44 against Skank's temple. "Any last prayers?"  
  
"Skank aint sorry for what Skank done…" Skank said.  
  
"That's a damn shame." Eric said.  
  
"Skank going to hell, you going to hell, who gives a fuck? Your little whore go to hell, too." Skank said. Eric thought it was time to say goodbye.  
  
"Tell Satan hello for me." Eric said, and pulled back on the trigger, and watched the bullet, along with blood, brains, and half of Skank's head blast off the opposite side and land on the bed. Eric stood straight, tucking the gun into his waist band. "Fucking dare to call my Shelly a whore…" He said, then he decided to leave an old trade mark, looking around her found a brush, perfect…  
  
~~~~~  
  
T-Bird opened the door.  
  
"Skank, you in here?" He asked, looking around, then he saw Skank, half his head missing and all. Around the window, painted in Skank's blood and brains, was the shape of a crow. "Holy shit…Holy fucking shit…" T-Bird said and spun around making a bolt for the stairs.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Shelly woke up and saw Eric leaning over her.  
  
"Hey tall, dark, and handsome." She said with a slight grin, he didn't say anything, just kept watching her. "Eric? What's wrong?" She asked, he shook his head.  
  
"Nothing, I just wanted to watch you, that's all." He said. She shook her head and smiled.  
  
"There are ways to go about that without worrying me." She said.  
  
"Oh really?" He asked.  
  
"Yep." She nodded.  
  
"Care to name them?" He tilted his head at her.  
  
"Not really." She grinned teasingly.  
  
"Shelly!" Eric protested.  
  
"Well, answering me instead of just standing there is a start." She said.  
  
"Is that all?" He asked.  
  
"Oh, for right now." She laughed then curled back up.  
  
"Still tired?" He asked.  
  
"Yep." Shelly said.  
  
"Go back to sleep." Eric said.  
  
"Two conditions." She said.  
  
"Hmmmm?" He asked.  
  
"Lay with me, and don't leave again." She said, he blinked, she knew he had been gone?  
  
"Okay." Eric said, laying down by her and pulling her to him.  
  
"Much better." She smiled and closed her eyes, going back to sleep. 


	5. T-Bird bye bye

It could have only been three in the morning when Shelly slipped out of Eric's arms.  
  
"Up an at 'em, Shelly girl." The Crow said. Shelly was tempted to flip the bird the bird. "Be nice now, T-Bird is coming here, this one's all yours."  
  
"I don't want to deal with T-Bird, I was to go at my dad." Shelly said quietly, to not wake Eric.  
  
"Your dad will be dealt with in time." The Crow said. Shelly sighed and rolled up her sleeves. Time wasn't good enough for her, for all she knew she'd be back in the grave as soon as the Crow determined that she'd done all she could. She didn't know about the little deal Eric had with the Crow. She looked over at Eric, still sleeping.  
  
"Well, off I go." She said, walking to the door and opening it and stepping out slowly.  
  
~~~~~  
  
T-Bird looked up as he heard something on the stairs, he was going to kill whoever this mother fucker was. He watched as a teenage girl walked down the stairs, at first it seemed okay enough, till he saw her face. Good lord it was T.D.'s daughter. But, impossible, she was dead, they had beat her to death, or close enough to it that she finally gave up. Fuck it. She was going to die again, she was going to fucking die again. T-Bird jumped out and threw a knife at her, she raised her hand, the blade digging into her skin and deflecting it, the wound healed.  
  
"One night as I lay a sleeping…  
  
I heard my mother gently weaping…  
  
Then the shots rang out so loud…  
  
Surprised it didn't draw a crowd…  
  
Tried to get to her I did…  
  
But blocked I was by daddy's friends…  
  
And when you though you'd break me forever more…  
  
You beat and raped me…  
  
Then you threw me to the floor…  
  
Vengance upon my brow peaks…  
  
For a family that will never speak…  
  
A child who will never know…  
  
There's more to the world than what daddy showed…  
  
And a mother who will never see…  
  
Will never be so proud of me…  
  
So now the time has come to pay…  
  
And I bet you'll regret the day…  
  
That you ever met a man named Dante." Shelly reached into her pocket and drew out her own knife.  
  
"Damn it…damn it…" T-Bird said backing up.  
  
"What's wrong, big man?  
  
Why back up all of the sudden?  
  
After all, you didn't before.  
  
When you used me like one of your whores." Shelly was loving this, the poetic part of her speaking seemed to get to him too, but still. He backed up more. She lunged and slung the knife hard, ripping open the muscle of his arm. He used his free arm to try to stab her with his own knife, to which she pinned the arm to the wall and cut his hand off at the wrist. He howled in agony.  
  
Eric woke up at the sound of the howl and jumped up, running for the door.  
  
"Eric, wait!" The Crow called.  
  
"What?!" Eric said.  
  
"This is Shelly's fight. She'll be fine." The Crow said, and stroked it's beak through it's feathers. Eric reluctantly sighed and sat down, waiting for Shelly to return.  
  
Shelly jumped back, as a knife swung at her. She dodged it again and tore her knife across T-Bird's stomach, letting all his guts spill out.  
  
"Goodbye." She said, and brought her hand, knife and all, up under his chin, and speared him from under the chin and right into the brain. She pulled her knife out and stepped back as he thunked onto the floor, then she dragged his corpse outside and dumped it before walking back in and walking back upstairs. She opened the door slowly and stepped in, and saw Eric awake.  
  
"You okay?" He asked.  
  
"Sorry if I woke you." She nodded.  
  
"It's okay." He said. She walked over to him and he wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning his head against her stomach.  
  
"Two of five down." She said.  
  
"Four of five, you mean." Eric corrected.  
  
"Huh?" Shelly asked.  
  
"I've already gotten rid of Funboy and Skank. You just killed T-Bird, and you've killed Tin-tin. T.D. is the only one left." Eric said.  
  
"You know, I could do it on my own." Shelly said, jokingly.  
  
"Sure!" Eric proclaimed and moved, laying down and pulling her down onto him. Say and believe what you'd like, lover." He whispered. She laid her head on his chest.  
  
"I say I love you…" Shelly began, Eric smiled, "And I believe you love me." She finished.  
  
"Rest some, you two, you go for Dante Webster at dawn." The Crow said before flying off. That was still a couple hours away, imagine the fun they'd get to have then! Eric began plotting ways to string him up and make him sorry, very many ways. Shelly decided to enjoy the cloesness until they both fell asleep. 


	6. T.D. Ta-ta

Eric watched Shelly sleep. Sudden memories flashing into his mind.  
  
---"Will you protect me, always, Eric?"  
  
"Until the end of time, Shelly."  
  
"Will you always hold me, Eric?"  
  
"No matter if you like it or not."  
  
"Will you always love me, Eric?"  
  
"Will you always be mine?"  
  
"Yes, you know I will, Eric."  
  
"Then you have my answer. Yes, I love you. And you know I always will."---  
  
Eric looked down at Shelly and frowned. He broke his promise, he hadn't protected her, but, he couldn't have, could he? Slowly Eric manuvered Shelly onto the bed by him and stood up. No, he couldn't have, but he could avenge her.  
  
"Where are you going?" The Crow asked him.  
  
"To finish off T.D." Eric replied.  
  
"It's not dawn yet, and Shelly's not awake." The Crow replied.  
  
"T.D. will just have to die before dawn, and Shelly need not be awake for this." Eric replied again, the Crow chirpped at him quietly.  
  
"Will you ever listen?" The Crow asked.  
  
"Nope." Eric answered as he walked out the door.  
  
~~~~~  
  
A short time later Eric entered a dark room in a warehouse, he had been here before. The shoot out, from so long ago, when he surprised the hell out of Top Dollar's men. Top Dollar had called him the Avenger, the Killer of Killers. But it was Top Dollar, who just minutes before he died leaned over Eric and said something like, 'Nothing goes on in this town without my say-so. I'm real sorry about what happened to you and your girl back there, but if it's any consulation, you've put a smile on my face.'  
  
"Well, well, look who's here. Eric Draven, deceased twenty-five years. You know, I thought you'd be no more than a pile of goop by now." T.D. said, propping his feet up on the table.  
  
"It's the end of your line, Dante. You should be ashamed." Eric said, walking towards the table like a creature stalking it's prey.  
  
"Ashamed? For what? I aint done nothin' that I aint done before." He said with a smirk. Eric grabbed the table and flipped it. Dante stood up and drew a gun, he fired it a total of seven times.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Shelly woke up, the sound of gunfire ringing clear from her dream.  
  
"Eric!" She said and jumped up and ran for the door, forgetting her knife on the floor by the bed.  
  
The homeless people who had gotten brave enough to use the sewers as homes saw the feet run in front of the openings for storm water to pour in, they could hear the haunting young female voice calling out a name. They heard the rain begin to pour hard against the sewer lids and concrete.  
  
"ERIC!" Shelly yelled as she ran towards the warehouse, the pounding rain had quickly drenched her. As she ran she stumbled over a pothole, her ankle turned akwardly, and she heard the loud snap of her bone, she cried out in pain but pushed on while the ankle healed itself. "Please hang in there, Eric." She whispered as she ran.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Eric pulled himself off the floor as the seven bullet holes closed up. He pulled his knife and advanced towards T.D. getting himself riddled with more bullets, but not stopping. T.D. dropped the gun and pulled his own knife, a studded dagger. He slashed and got Eric right across the chest.  
  
"You know, there's no greater joy than seeing a child BEG." T.D. laughed and slashed again, Eric slumped back some and then lunged forward tearing the knife across T.D.'s shoulder.  
  
"You hurt her, for hours, for days, you tore her soul to shreads, you made it so that even if she had survived she could never look herself in the mirror again!" Eric fumed as he lunged again and tore the knife across the other shoulder.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Oh, please, don't be fighting yet, Eric." Shelly pleaded as she burst into the warehouse and ran for the stairs. The Crow, the Crow's eyes were guiding her. She got to the top door and pushed it open and stepped in, just as Eric stumbled back, it sent them both into the wall.  
  
"You shouldn't be here, Shelly." Eric said, getting up again.  
  
"I can't let you do this alone!" Shelly protested. Suddenly a gunshot rang out and Shelly fell backwards.  
  
"SHELLY!" Eric yelled, looking down at her, hand pressed over a bullet hole in her chest. He turned to T.D. who held a smoking gun and began advancing on him. "Now, you die." Eric said as he lunged forward and landed on T.D. The force knocked both of them to the ground. T.D. struggled against Eric, but was no match for the immortal man, Eric reached down and shoved his hand into T.D.'s chest. The man yelled out in pain, Eric found his beating heart, and grasped it. "I know you're not sorry, so I won't ask. Keep hell warm for me." Eric said, yanking the heart out, and crushing it as it hit the air. Eric stood up, he didn't bother to look back down at the corpse before him, instead he turned to Shelly, who was standing up, he walked over to her and hugged her tightly. 


End file.
